How to Make Money as a Stay at Home Mom

The idea for this post came one night in conversation with my sister. After her second child, she left her job of 10+ years to be with her kids full-time.

Our discussion started with how spending money on herself felt before and after she left her job. This is something my wife and I have talked a lot about too. With the differences society places on earning money vs. being a caregiver, it was interesting to hear another mom’s perspective.

Also interesting was that my sister had a system down for earning some spending money. She liked that this money in her words had “no-strings attached” to it. We then compared apps, websites, and tips for the rest of the night while our kids tore apart our house. Here’s the top 7 ways to make money as a stay at home mom we came up with.

How to Make Money as a Stay at Home Mom

# 1 – Sharing Your Opinion

Surveys are perhaps the quickest way for stay-at-home moms to make some money.

Over 70% of women are the primary shoppers for their households. That’s why market research companies will pay for their opinion.

How it works is you sign up for a paid survey site, then you’re notified by email when a survey is available. For example, here’s a survey opportunity recently emailed to me:

Not all offers are this good but they do exist for those who are patient.

The favorite survey site of the readers of The Ways to Wealth and the one I recommended to my sister was SurveyJunkie.

SurveyJunkie is an A-Rated company by the Better Business Bureau and their free app has a rating or 4.5 with ‎6,350+ reviews. (available for both iPhone and Android).

Browse your preferred store to see what offers are eligible for cash back. For example, currently iBotta is offering $3.50 cash back for Heinz’ Mayonnaise at Walmart.

Once you’ve made the purchase, you take a picture of the receipt with your smartphone to get the cash back. Once you accumulate $20, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal or Venmo or exchange for gift cards to your favorite stores.

Right now, iBotta is giving new users a $10 sign up bonus too.

Also, you can use a receipt that’s up to a week old. So, if you have a recent receipt on hand, download the app now and see how much you can earn.

You’ll also be glad to know, both the iPhone and Android apps are highly rated.

Before you shop, browse the coupons available (currently there are 117 coupons worth $237.93 available.

Select the coupons you want to use, then print (it will just print one page)

For the extra minute or so it takes you, there’s a lot of savings and earning to be had. Especially when you consider MyPoints Print, Save and Earn Coupons can be stacked with Ibotta cash back rebates. This technique, called deal stacking, is how you can save big! Your pints can then be exchanged for gift cards to your favorite stores.

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# 6 – Download These Passive Income Apps

If taking on more commitment such as becoming a tutor or starting a blog isn’t right for you, you’ll be glad to hear about passive income apps. The concept behind these apps is that they work in the background, requiring very little or no time on your end.

Here’s three apps to consider and how they work:

ShopTracker (Earn $39 a year) – If you shop on Amazon, ShopTracker will pay you to see your shopping history. To start earning you just have to connect Shoptracker to your Amazon account. You’ll instantly earn a $3 Visa Gift card, plus another $3 for every month you keep it installed. Learn more.

Nielsen Mobile Panel (Earn $50 a year) – This app runs in the background of your smartphone. It collects data on your use of applications, mobile web and other services for the purpose of market research. When you download the app, you’ll earn $3 for downloading, then another $3 every month it’s installed. Learn more.

Paribus (Earn $50 a year) – Don’t delete your emails! Paribus gets you money back for your online purchases at stores like Target, Walmart, and more. After signing up for Paribus, it will track your recent purchases (through emailed receipts). When it finds a price drop, Paribus will then claim the from the retailer on your behalf at no-cost to you. Learn more.

# 7 – Freelance Writing

Another part-time, flexible way to earn money is through freelance writing.

An inspiring freelance writing success story is Gina Horkey’s of Horkey Handbook. Gina was able to replace her high five-figure salary in a bit over 6-months as a freelance writer–even as she had a full-time job and kids.

About The Author

R.J. Weiss is the founder and editor of The Ways To Wealth, a Certified Financial Planner™, husband and father of three. He's spent the last 10+ years writing about personal finance and has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, MSN Money, and other publications.

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